Westchem Agr. Chemicals, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co.
| Decision Date | 06 May 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-1960,92-1960 |
| Citation | 990 F.2d 426 |
| Parties | , Prod.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 13,454 WESTCHEM AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS, INC., Appellant, v. FORD MOTOR COMPANY, a foreign corporation; Westlie Motor Company, a corporation, Appellees. FORD MOTOR COMPANY, Third Party-Plaintiff, v. UNITED AGRI PRODUCTS, INC., a corporation, Third Party-Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Michael G. Mullin, Omaha, NE, argued (Martel J. Bundy and Keith P. Larsen, Omaha, NE, Randall J. Bakke, Bismarck, ND, and Thomas W. Conklin, Chicago, IL, on the brief), for appellant.
John M. Thomas, Dearborn, MI, argued (Thomas E. Rutten, Devils Lake, ND, for appellee Westlie Motor Co.; William Sampson and John T. Steere, Overland Park, KS, and John M. Thomas, Dearborn, MI, for appellee Ford Motor Co., on the brief), for appellees.
Before MAGILL and BEAM, Circuit Judges, and LARSON, * Senior District Judge.
Westchem Agricultural Chemicals, Inc., (Westchem) appeals from the trial court's order granting summary judgment to Ford Motor Company (Ford) and Westlie Motor Company (Westlie). Westchem had suffered damages from a fire originating in a pickup manufactured by Ford, and filed a complaint alleging Ford and Westlie were liable for the damages under theories of negligence, defective design, failure to warn, and breach of warranty. We affirm the trial court's grant of summary judgment on all claims against Ford. We affirm the grant of summary judgment on all claims against Westlie except the claim that Westlie negligently maintained the pickup. On that claim alone, we remand for proceedings on the merits.
Westchem is a Montana corporation engaged in the business of storing agricultural chemicals for sale to farmers and farm products retailers. In 1986, Westchem purchased from Westlie, a North Dakota corporation which sells and services motor vehicles, an F-250 Supercab pickup manufactured by Ford.
The pickup was factory-equipped with a trailer tow wiring harness, which is designed to provide power for a trailer's lights. The wires in the trailer tow wiring harness are separately insulated, and one of the wires is a 12-gauge "hot" wire, which means it is continually energized even when the pickup engine is not running. The wires in the harness are routed from the front of the pickup to the rear and fed into a plug. To use the trailer tow wiring harness for a trailer, a consumer needs only to mate an appropriate plug from the trailer to the harness plug. The 12-gauge electrical circuit containing the hot wire was protected against short circuits by a 16-gauge fusible link. The 16-gauge fusible link is a short section of wire four gauges smaller than the 12-gauge circuit. The fusible link separates in the event of a short circuit, breaking the circuit before excessive heat can build up in the rest of the circuit. This is appropriate circuit protection for the 12-gauge hot wire, and conforms to Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) standards.
The new F-250 pickup purchased by Westchem was primarily used by a Westchem employee, Thomas Schulz, in the course of his employment. Soon after the pickup was purchased, Schulz removed a "topper" or camper shell from an older pickup owned by Westchem and mounted the topper on the new F-250 pickup. The topper was manufactured by Glasstite, Inc., which has no connection to either Ford or Westlie.
Two weeks later, Schulz connected the topper's dome light to the pickup's electrical system. 1 Schulz purchased a length of 16- or 18-gauge wire at K-Mart, attempting visually to match the "pigtail" connector wire extending from the dome light. Schulz attached the K-Mart wire to the topper dome light, and routed the wire along the bottom edge of the topper to the undercarriage of the pickup. He then wrapped the K-Mart wire several times around the wires in the trailer tow wiring harness and the nylon gas line. 2 Using an electrical tester, Schulz searched for a hot wire in the electrical system of the pickup. He found the 12-gauge hot wire in the trailer tow wiring harness, cut the hot wire and used a wire nut to connect the 16- or 18-gauge K-Mart wire.
Schulz did not add a fusible link or fuse to the new circuit he created in order to protect it in the event of a short circuit. Because the K-Mart wire added by Schulz was either the same size or smaller than the 16-gauge fusible link protecting the circuit in the trailer tow wiring harness, the fusible link could not protect the circuit Schulz added. Therefore, in the event of a short circuit in the K-Mart wire, the entire circuit would increase in heat until reaching its 1900 degree Fahrenheit melting point and separating.
On April 4, 1987, Schulz parked the pickup in Westchem's warehouse. While making a phone call in the warehouse office, a fire broke out in the undercarriage of the pickup. The evidence viewed in the light most favorable to Westchem shows that the fire was caused by a short circuit in the K-Mart wire added by Schulz. Because Schulz had failed to protect the circuit he added, the K-Mart wire continued to heat up to its 1900 degree Fahrenheit melting point, severed the nylon fuel line around which it was wrapped, and ignited the gas. Schulz and the Minot fire department were unable to extinguish the fire. The fire ultimately destroyed the warehouse and its contents. In addition to losses from destruction of the warehouse, Westchem incurred costs for environmental cleanup.
Westchem sued Ford and Westlie for damages suffered from the fire. Westchem alleged Ford is liable under the theories of negligent design, strict liability in tort, negligent and strict liability failure to warn, failure to recall, and breach of warranty. Westchem also requested punitive damages from Ford. Westchem alleged Westlie is liable under the theories of negligence, breach of warranty, strict liability, negligent and strict liability failure to warn, and failure to instruct. Ford moved for summary judgment, arguing the fire was caused by the addition of the topper. The trial court granted Ford's motion for summary judgment, and entered an order dismissing all causes of action against both Ford and Westlie. Westchem appeals from this order.
We review the grant of summary judgment under the same standards as the district court. Kegel v. Runnels, 793 F.2d 924, 926 (8th Cir.1986). Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Summary judgment is granted only when "the moving party has established the right to a judgment with such clarity as to leave no room for controversy." Vacca v. Viacom Broadcasting of Mo., Inc., 875 F.2d 1337, 1339 (8th Cir.1989) (citation omitted). When the moving party produces credible evidence that establishes there is no genuine issue of material facts, the opposing party must produce specific facts demonstrating a genuine issue for trial. Elbe v. Yankton Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 1, 714 F.2d 848, 850 (8th Cir.1983). A dispute is genuine when "the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the non-moving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). We view all facts and reasonable inferences in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party, Westchem. Id. at 255, 106 S.Ct. at 2513.
We first note Westchem has presented no evidence that the pickup was not safe before the topper dome light was improperly spliced to the trailer tow wiring harness. The 12-gauge wire in the trailer tow wiring harness was adequately protected according to SAE standards by the 16-gauge fusible link. Additionally, Westchem produced no evidence that the nylon tubing was not safe for use as a fuel line before the dome light wire was wrapped around it.
Westchem claims Ford negligently designed the pickup because the pickup could not accommodate foreseeable and known uses by consumers. As the threshold step in this negligence claim, Westchem must prove that Ford had a duty to design its pickup to protect against damage from the unsafe manner in which Westchem's topper dome light was connected. See Carlson Homes, Inc. v. Messmer, 307 N.W.2d 564, 566 (N.D.1981) (). Westchem argues that Ford had this duty because under Johnson v. American Motors Corp., 225 N.W.2d 57 (N.D.1974), Ford has a duty to protect consumers against foreseeable misuse of its vehicles. In Johnson, however, the North Dakota Supreme Court was facing the issue of whether an automobile manufacturer has a duty to design its vehicles to protect occupants in the event of an accident. The type of misuse addressed in Johnson--an accident--is a misuse directly related to normal operation of a vehicle. In the present case, altering the pickup's electrical system is not in any way related to the normal operation of the pickup. We do not believe that the rule of law regarding foreseeable misuse established in Johnson extends to imposing a duty upon manufacturers to design vehicles in anticipation of consumers splicing into a vehicle's adequately protected electrical system to add aftermarket electrical equipment in an outrageously unsafe manner.
There are no disputed facts relevant to determining Ford's duty. Therefore, whether a duty exists is a question of law for the court to resolve. See Holter v. City of Sheyenne, 480 N.W.2d 736, 737 (N.D.1992). North Dakota has not indicated it would impose upon Ford the duty to design its vehicles to protect against harm resulting from improperly installed aftermarket equipment which Ford has not designed, manufactured, marketed, or sold. 3 We decline to impose this duty upon Ford.
We believe sound public policy supports this decision. Imposing this duty...
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